Cheniere Energy has started the months-long process of preparing its $18 billion Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas export terminal to crank out its first batch of super-chilled gas for shipment overseas.

The Houston-based company received permission from federal regulators to pipe natural gas into the sprawling plant on a remote stretch of coastline along the border between Texas and Louisiana as it starts priming the first production facilities for startup.

Last week, Sabine Pass LNG began bringing in small amounts of natural gas and burning some off, a process called flaring, providing early signs that the first phase of the project is nearing the finish line, according to energy research firm Genscape, which has been monitoring plant activity using a network of infrared monitors.

"If we are at the dawn of the golden age of U.S. gas exports, this is the start of it," said Ted Michael, an LNG analyst at Genscape.

Cheniere did not respond to requests for comment.

Three years after construction began, the flurry of commissioning activity at the Sabine Pass plant has attracted much attention, placing Cheniere on track to complete the nation's first large-scale terminal to ship LNG from the continental U.S.

"It's a historic event," said Will Frohnhoefer, an analyst at BTIG. "Basically, it's creating a new export industry for the U.S."

Thousands of welders, machinists and pipe fitters have been working for years to piece together the massive export terminal where natural gas will be piped in, chilled to minus 260 degrees to a liquid state, then shipped on specialized tankers to markets in India, England, Spain and Italy.

Once construction is done, it can take three to six months to ready the plant for production, Michael said. Cheniere has to fire up its massive gas-powered turbines, run exhaustive tests of the valves and pressure gauges along miles of interconnecting cryogenic pipelines and gradually drop the temperature of the tanks, trains and giant refrigeration units to avoid stressing the metal parts, Michael said.

Once fully chilled, the plant likely can produce its first test cargoes of LNG by the end of this year, barring any hiccups during testing, he said.

While other multibillion-dollar LNG projects across the globe have been plagued by cost overruns and construction delays, Cheniere appears poised to meet its deadlines with buyers and stay within budget, thrusting the company ahead of similar plants proposed in the U.S. and abroad, Frohnhoefer said.

The first commercial cargoes are expected to sail out early next year. British natural gas producer BG Group has locked in 20-year contracts to buy much of the LNG produced from the first liquefaction train, as the production units are called.

At least four other LNG export terminals have started construction in the continental U.S., including Houston-based Freeport LNG's liquefaction project in Brazoria County and Sempra Energy's $6 billion LNG export plant in Hackberry, La.